Peter's review of 'The Rewrite'

Thank you so much to ROSA member Peter Barker for this review of The Rewrite, the new romcom which ROSA Johannesburg were invited to view at an advance screening courtesy of Ster Kinekor:

One may be tempted to stifle a yawn at the arrival of yet another 'chick flick' featuring naughty boy Hugh Grant. The typical Romance structure Boy meets girl, boy dates girl, Boy and girl break up, boy and girl reconcile and all live happily ever after while the arch-feminist in the sub plot is able to stand her ground.

Whereas the arrival of THE REWRITE featuring Hugh Grant and Marisa Tomei soon to be distributed through the Ster-Kinekor chain falls into this category, it is worthy of a more stricter test. Firstly, does it entertain? Is it interesting, (or does it educate)? Finally does it inspire?

On all three tests it certainly meets the criteria. The story is based at a University campus where Hugh Grant as a washed up one hit wonder script writer is sent to teach screen writing to a class of university students. He is spotted by single mother mature student played by Marisa Tomei. Hugh Grant's character treats the job with disdain until his mistakes start to catch up with him. Marisa Tomei's character is in the background guiding him through towards the right choices. Youth and its uncertainties and enthusiasm which comes through the students in the screenwriting class certainly provide entertaining viewing. The story line is enlightening for aspiring writers and gives a perspective of what writing and getting material published is all about. It is not a writer's guide but it does illustrate some of the tricks and pitfalls of the trade. Finally, there is in the cast of characters someone for everyone to identify with. Enough material for everyone to be reminded that your dreams and ambitions are obtainable no matter what your background is.

For an evening's entertainment which albeit in a familiar genre, will leave you entertained, enlightened and inspired. THE REWRITE is well worth a visit to the cinema.

Advance screening of 'The Rewrite'

A very big thank you to Ster Kinekor for inviting ROSA Johannesburg to view The Rewrite in advance of its release at their own private cinema in Sandton. We had a wonderful evening and everyone who attended loved the movie.

Here's what a few of our ROSA members had to say about it:

Maggie:
Thank you to Sterkinekor for inviting ROSA to the pre-screening of The Rewrite. The movie was hilarious. Hugh Grant is so droll and one is always well entertained by a movie with him in the lead. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Tanya:
The movie was excellent, light-hearted comedy. I would recommend that they write "A Sequel to The Rewrite", or make it a "Series" as I love Hugh Grant's sense of humour. It would have been better if he had danced in the one part, instead of just watching the dancing.

Adele:
Delightful! Humorous insights to the inner struggles of a writer…must see for any wanna be, still is or was writer…it will get you going again.

Peter:
Very enjoyable story, also useful for aspiring writers. Go and see it when it comes on circuit.
[More to follow]

Check out where it's showing here.

If you aren't already convinced to go watch this movie, here's a teaser:

Elinor Glyn - the 'It' Girl of '20s romance writing

A handsome young Englishman enters his sedate Swiss hotel room only to find an exotic Balkan queen stretched out on a tiger skin with a lush red rose clamped between her teeth, just waiting to seduce him into a marriage of convenience.

The scene, from Elinor Glyn’s 1908 book Three Weeks, scandalised Edwardian readers and cemented her notorious legacy as a trash novelist. With titles like Glorious Flames and The Flirt and the Flapper, Glyn’s more than 40 novels exerted a huge influence on romantic and erotic fiction of the time and helped boost her career as screenwriter and director in silent era Hollywood.

She coined the popular expression ‘It’, that elusive and alluring quality of absolute sex appeal. ‘It can be a quality of the mind or a physical attraction,’ she said and these beguiling properties were bestowed on ‘20s actress Clara Bow, forever remembered as the ultimate It Girl in a movie of the same name. Hollywood gossip has Glyn reportedly teaching Rudolph Valentino how to kiss while he filmed Beyond the Rocks with Gloria Swanson, a movie based on her 1906 novel.

She was born Elinor Sutherland on 17 October 1864 in Jersey on the Channel Islands, but her family moved to Canada when she was a baby. She was brought up by her grandmother, of Anglo-Irish aristocracy, who instilled in her a sense of style and upper-class breeding. With her green eyes and flame-coloured hair, Glyn could easily have been a character in one of her own scandalous books.  After her marriage to wealthy but spendthrift landowner Clayton Glyn hit the rocks, she took to having affairs with various English aristocrats. In fact, Three Weeks was rumoured to be inspired by her affair with Lord Alastair Innes Ker.

She died in London on 23 September 1943. In 2002, Johanna Lumley played the novelist in the film The Cat’s Meow, as a guest on tycoon William Randolph Hearst’s yacht the night Thomas Ince died. Her career as a novelist is now largely forgotten and, reading her books out of historical context, her prose seems positively tame. However, Elinor Glyn pioneered mass-market women’s fiction in the early 20^th century and she was one of the first female directors in early Tinseltown. 

Elinor Glyn is just one iconic romance novelist of our times. Which author has most influenced your career as a writer?